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'Top Chef: New York': Hot (dog) or not
Top Chef: New York turns the screws by making the cheftestants cook the official street food of NYC, then by subjecting their cooking to the scrutiny of 50 also-rans for Top Chef slots. It's not pretty. It's also, unfortunately, slightly boring. Pick it up, cheftestants!
This spoiler likes having a boyfriend.
In the quickfire, the cheftestants take on the Big Apple's favorite street food -- the humble hot dog. Plus, their creations will go up against a real-live hot-dog cart meal, which they damn well better beat. After all, she's just dressing a pre-made dog, right? They're making their own dogs from scratch!
Well, most of them are -- Jill decides to forgo the dog-making, and just chops up store-bought hot dogs and dresses them up to make something she's calling summer rolls, but that looks like sliced dogs on a plate with garnish.
Both Euro members make a Hot Dog Panini, with Fabio going for an andouille sausage with a Mediterranean effect, and Stefan making something he's calling a "World Dog," because ... well, because he's serving it with a glass of German beer. Hmmm. Eugene goes for a sushi-type effect, which strikes me as odd. Rahdika does a kebab-style dog, while Hosea adds bacon to his dog fillings. Ariane makes a chicken sausage with bacon and celery salt -- a bit too much of the latter, according to the judges -- while Daniel, Carla and Jamie all do variations on pork, beef and lamb sausages. Jamie's has an extra ingredient -- a bit of bone. Ick!
The judges think Jill was lame for not making her own dog and then doing next to nothing with the dog she bought. Stefan's World Dog doesn't impress, which sends him into a snit. Shut it! They love Rahdika's moist, Indian-inspired kebab, Fabio's Mediterranean andouille, and Hosea's smokey-bacon flavored dog. Rahdika takes the prize, and wins immunity.
Elimination challenge
The cheftestants prepare a three-course New American lunch menu for 50 people, with each chef taking a different dish. The twist? They're preparing said dishes at Tom's restaurant, Craft, and they'll be serving 50 chefs who auditioned for -- and DIDN'T make -- Top Chef. Yipe!
Pretty boy Jeff surprised me by taking charge. Huh. I didn’t think he had it in him. At the store, Hosea immediately causes concern by deciding to go with packaged crab when he can't find any fresh crab. Dude, change your menu rather than go with iffy ingredients! Did you learn NOTHING from Spike last season?
Jill finds ostrich eggs, which she decides to use to make quiche. But... why bother to buy spectacular eggs with enormous yolks when you're just going to scramble them up and make them unidentifiable? Wouldn't it be better to use them in a presentation where the diners could see that yes, indeed, that came from one absolutely huge egg? I don't get it.
Ariane is once again verklempt -- I'm not a baker! I don't usually do dessert! No one will like it! She makes lemon meringue martini and parades around the kitchen asking everyone to taste it. Is it too sweet? She suspects it is, but she gets conflicting opinions. 1) It’s not their job to make decisions for you. 2) Learn to trust your own palate. But Ariane puts the onus on the other chefs -- "If i go under you're all going to hear it!" Ariane bugs.
The disgruntled diners do actually have decent things to say about some of the dishes... but they rip others to shreds. "I coulda done way better than this!" one gripes. Yeah, whatever, dude.
Jamie does a sweet corn soup, which some of the cheftestants sneer about. It's so simple! Yes, but simple doesn't mean easy, and the Gail and Padma praise how perfectly balanced and refreshing the soup is. Hosea's crab is slimy, muddy and roundly panned. Leah's scallops are sandy, and have an 80s presentation. Melissa's grilled avocados and nectarines are just blah. But Fabio's beef carpaccio, with some sort of sci-fi-cheffery treatment to the olive puree that made them solid on the outside, liquid on the inside -- like an egg yolk, says Padma -- draws raves.
Jill has high hopes for her ostrich-egg quiche -- it used ostrich eggs! It's original! -- but diners say it looks like dog food, and the judges say it tastes like glue. Eugene does a deconstructed meatloaf sandwich, which does not impress. Stefan is almost cocky about his halibut with micro greens and ravioli, but apparently he delivers. Jeff bitches that the burners are temperamental, so his chicken with chorizo dish is slow to come out, but when it does, the guests and judges like it. Not so Alex's pork tenderloin, which some guests say they could have gotten at home.
For dessert, Rahdika does an avocado mousse -- basically sweet guacamole. Ew. Daniel’s ricotta pound cake is fine. Ariane's lemon meringue martini is so sweet that Padma spits it out -- ouch. Richard's banana nut bread-peanut butter sandwich is proclaimed an after-school snack. Carla's apple tart is delicious -- pity about the random piece of cheddar plunked down on the plate.
Tom is insulted that such lousy food came out of his kitchen, which surprises Alex – he’s taking this challenge so personally. Dude - you were cooking at his restaurant. Of course he took it personally! Tom's verdict: "If this is your take on new American, I think you set American cuisine back about 20 years." Ouch.
The judges praise Carla for pastry, but wish she'd been able to work the cheddar into the dish. Then they turn to Fabio, who starts spouting off -- I used great ingredients, great plating, I sell hundreds of this dish in my restaurant in California... "You tell me why I'm here!" he says. "You're here because we liked your dish," Padma said. "We hadn't told you that we didn't like it yet!" Gail added. "Oh, that's good," Fabio says. "I... I'm glad you like it, that's why I made it... " Heh. The judges especially liked the olivey goodness. Jaime's corn puree was also very successful. In the end, the judges pick Fabio as the winner.
Hosea is shocked that he's in the bottom -- he thought he won! The judges laugh openly at that. It wasn't seasoned, and it tasted off. Ariane expected to be in the bottom, but she's shocked to learn that Padma spit out her dish. The judges ask Jill what she was thinking, and she doesn't exhibit any signs of thought at all. It was the pressure! It was a good idea, but, um, I and, uh... "I have to say that Jill's defense of her dish was the lamest defense of any food we have had in five seasons of the show," Gail says.
The judges send Jill home, much to Ariane's surprise. It should have been me! I don't deserve to stay! Carla tries to buck Ariane up, but I'm just getting sick of her. Either get over your crippling self-doubt, or go home.
Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends
- Fabio shares an Italian proverb with us: "It doesn’t matter how many dragons you kill, it depends on who brings home the princess." Ohhhhhkay...
- Best/worst criticism from one of the disgruntled diners: "As a possible candidate for Top Chef, it almost angers me to eat this food."
- When Padma spit out the lemon meringue for being too sweet, I flashed back to the few times I’ve had Indian desserts, which seemed to involve a supersaturated sugar syrup so sweet it made my teeth ring. If it’s sweeter than THAT... well, I hope there were no diabetics in a five-block radius.
- Still loving Eugene. Come on, Hawaii boy!
- What was with the random 30 second clip of Leah (I think) getting flirty with Hosea and saying she likes to have a boyfriend? It was a completely random mid-commercial head fake. Odd.
- What makes food presentation 80s? Was it wearing legwarmers? Singing Duran Duran? What?
Am I the only one who is a bit grumpy about Fabio winning the challenge with something he's made "hundreds of times" at his own restaurant? I like to see the cheftestants expanding, not just drawing on their personal cookbook.
While Jill was pretty awful, and I'm not surprised to see her gone, Ariane is not going to be long for the competition if she can't grow some tastebuds.
Astrid | Nov 20, 2008 3:23:57 AM | #I think the thing with Fabio was this: He did say 'he serves this dish in his restaurant hundreds of times', true, but he also said that the thing he did to the olives is his pretty new and recently developed technique.
I can't believe how stupid Jillian was. How can you buy an ostrich egg and claim it is 'bold and progressive', and then just make a completely common-place quiche that could have been made with any type of eggs? Maybe making a big omelet from each egg, or sautéed veggies wrapped in a fried ostrich egg, would have been better, just make it more refined. Anything that would showcase the size of this sucker would have worked.
What she did instead was like getting some buffalo rump roast and then mincing it into a tartar. Any other meat can be used for that, just like any other egg could have been used for her quiche. She is completely delusional thinking that what she did was 'bold' and 'exotic' and the judges were just blind. Idiot. Good riddance. And same wishes to Ariane - she cannot be dumped soon enough for me.
I think that at this time there are clear front runners already who may comprise the Final Five: Fabio, Stefan, Jamie, Eugene and Hosea.
I need to know what 80's food looks like. Who knew?
JC | Nov 20, 2008 9:25:23 AM | #What's up with Whole Foods having ostrich eggs, of all things, but no fresh crab?
Beth | Nov 20, 2008 10:10:41 AM | #LOL. Fabio quote is the theme to Mario Brother!
LT | Nov 20, 2008 10:43:29 AM | #Jill couldn't even break open the egg without help! Seriously, a double elimination was in order, because Ariane was right ... she didn't deserve to stay!
Fabio was so funny when he started arguing with the judges before they said anything at all ... it would have served him right if they changed their minds and awarded the win to Jamie.
I also didn't get the comment about the food presentation being 80s. I seem to recall my food looking the same then as it does now. Maybe it's just changed in places where you pay $100 per plate?
IMO, Ariane should have gone for sure! First, she said that the dessert she made is one they make at her restaurant, so she should know how to make it! Also, this is the second time she's been in the bottom 2, so obviously it's not a fluke, but a lack of skill on her part.
Yeah, Jill's defense was lame, but I'm sure she felt a lot of pressure. And to be honest, the way they phrased the question, I didn't think they were asking her to defend her food, but how she would cook better if they kept her on..which is kinda difficult to answer.
a | Nov 20, 2008 11:59:32 AM | #Also didn't get the ostrich-egg thing. What was Jill thhinking? You're in a competition, for goodness sake, so cook stuff you know how to!
sandra | Nov 20, 2008 12:23:27 PM | #I see nothing wrong with Fabio winning with a recipe he was familiar with, after all the challenge was not to do something you've never done before. I would also point out that many of the other cooks did the same thing, including Jamie with her corn soup and Hosea with his crab salad.
At this point in the season there is so much middling talent just waiting to be sent home. Ariane was just lucky that Jill sucked more than she did, but I agree with Sarah that her whinny low self-esteem schtick is already annoying. I also don't get Rahdika, who introduced herself by saying she didn't want to be pigeonholed as an "Indian chef" but who seems to have an Indian basis to all her recipes. Right now Stefan, Fabio and Jamie are the front-runners.
ariane looks like mama petrelli's younger sister ...
tc | Nov 21, 2008 7:39:51 AM | #So freakin' true about that random 30 second Leah/Hosea clip. It's like they decided to run a "lost moments" webisode in between two commercials for no reason!
Cliff O'Neill | Nov 22, 2008 9:23:57 AM | #I'd really like to know what Fabio actually did to the olives. They sounded sooo good.
tahlula | Nov 22, 2008 5:16:55 PM | #after watching the top chef reruns, it seems to me that the winner should not only cook well and creatively, but this person should also exhibit strong leadership qualities in the kitchen. harold and stephanie demonstrated this throughout the competition, while ilan and hung often acted like fools. i hope they've grown up since appearing on the show.
tc | Nov 23, 2008 10:14:25 AM | #I just want to comment on the "sweet guacamole".
I was enraged by the comparison. Yes, it was avocado, but to treat that excellent FRUIT as a vegetable is a regional phenomenon. The first time I ever saw someone eating avocado as a vegetable was when I moved to the US. In many countries (including mine), avocados are very much appreciated as a FRUIT!!!!!
Avocado smoothies, ice cream, desserts, drinks, fresh with a pinch of sugar, etc, etc, etc, etc.....
I NEVER, NEVER, NEVER would waste a good avocado doing anything savory with it, in particular guacamole (and avocados that weight less than a pound are rejected by the population as if it was of inferior quality).
The unfamiliarity of the general US public (and seems that most US cooks and chefs) is appalling.
I was happy to see Rahdika presenting that dish, but floored by the very, very ignorant analysis.
As a disclaimer, I am stating my experience. I lived 25 years abroad and 20 years in the US. And I managed to never insult the avocado fruit by eating guacamole during these 20 years.
Sorry but I needed to vent, since that made me very upset.
Just to clarify, I did try guacamole and I absolutely hate it. I also ate avocados in sushi, but they are of little consequence there and not my favorite.
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